Colorful envelopes from Deadheads adorn the wall of the Grateful Dead Archives at UC Santa Cruz.

Colorful envelopes from Deadheads adorn the wall of the Grateful Dead Archives at UC Santa Cruz.

Photo: Handout

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Visitors follow instructions to rub their hands together during a tour of the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz.

Visitors follow instructions to rub their hands together during a tour of the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz.

Photo: Sarah Rice, Special To The Chronicle

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Robbie Oberto gives a tour of the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz.

Robbie Oberto gives a tour of the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz.

Photo: Sarah Rice, Special To The Chronicle

10 reasons to visit Santa Cruz County now

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1. Walk the waterfront

Monterey Bay is Santa Cruz’s front yard, and two gorgeous waterfront pathways offer fresh air, exercise and spectacular ocean views. The West Cliff Drive bike path winds for 2½ miles along the clifftops from the Dream Inn to Natural Bridges State Beach, hosting a stream of hikers, bikers, runners and dog walkers on a fully paved trailway. A few miles south, the Pleasure Point pathway stretches a half mile from Pleasure Point park, with seashell-embedded hardscaping created by concrete artist Tom Ralston, to the Hook, the famous surf break at the end of 41st Avenue. Both trails are accessible, offering multiple opportunities to view surfers and ocean wildlife, and stairways down to the sand.

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You’ve gazed out to sea. Now gaze back at the landlubbers, while balancing a glass of wine in your hand. Two sailing charters based at the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor offer reasonably priced cruises of one to two hours along the Santa Cruz coastline, year-round. The Chardonnay II, a former racing yacht, offers a smorgasbord of themed cruises featuring everything from local wines and brews to sushi and pizza. There are midday cruises and sunset cruises, and regatta cruises on Wednesday evenings. O’Neill Charters offers a similar array of adventures on its 65-foot Team O’Neill catamaran. Both vessels carry a maximum of 49 passengers.

Whoosh through the redwood canopy like a flying squirrel at Mount Hermon Adventures, where six sections of zip line and two sky bridges allow a view of California’s coastal forest previously available only to small forest creatures. Harness up, clip on and launch yourself from a treetop platform 150 feet above the ground. Alight at the next platform, recover and repeat. Exhilarating and unforgettable and, thanks to the well-prepared guides, quite educational. Must be 10 years old or older.

What is it about the Mystery Spot? This goofy roadside attraction, which opened in 1940, continutes to draw busloads of tourists from as far afield as Japan, Wales and Nevada. There’s the absurdly crooked cabin on a steep forest hillside, and optical illusions as disorienting the fourth time you see them as they were the first. The Mystery Spot pathways are steep and the sights can be vertigo-inducing — best to wear sneakers and carry only a camera. Weekend and holiday crowds often force the Mystery Spot to turn away visitors without reservations. Once you’re in, stock up on fun souvenirs at the wonderfully tacky gift shop, and don’t forget to slap a bright-yellow Mystery Spot bumper sticker on your car.

If you’re a Deadhead, you can’t be in Santa Cruz without stopping by the Grateful Dead Archive at UC Santa Cruz. Locals love to talk about the town’s connection to the band and its members, who, in 2008, gave their entire archive to the university. It includes hundreds of artifacts, audio and video recordings, artwork, tickets and other memorabilia — including complete sets of Dead Heads newsletters.

Located on the second floor of McHenry Library. Hours are subject to change with academic calendar. 1156 High St., Santa Cruz, (831) 459-4053.

6. Seek out Shakespeare

Shakespeare Santa Cruz lost its funding from UC Santa Cruz in 2013, after a 32-year run. But the theater festival’s legion of fans united, the actors took the helm, and the company re-formed in 2014 as Santa Cruz Shakespeare. The troupe’s second independent season, running through Aug. 30, features the Bard’s “Much Ado About Nothing” and “Macbeth,” along with “The Liar,” an adaptation of a 17th century farce, and “The Rover,” a restoration comedy by Aphra Behn. All four plays take place in UC Santa Cruz’s lovely, open-air Festival Glen.

Adam Armstrong discovered authentic cocoa while a Peace Corps volunteer stationed in the jungles of Panama. He started Mutari Chocolate House and Factory as a way to bring fair pay to the often impoverished farmers who grow the world’s cacao beans. This tiny startup offers stone-ground, single-source cocoas and sipping chocolates of startling and delicious complexity. Mutari’s hot chocolate is intense, and flavored with zingy extras such as Himalayan pink salt and chai spice. The sipping chocolates are barely sweetened, and almost pudding-thick. Choose from a shifting range of seasonally available cacao concoctions, all house-roasted and blended ($2.50-$8).

Enjoy a lavish, locally grown farm-to-table feast at Live Earth Farm, a 150-acre organic farmstead located in the heart of Santa Cruz County’s fertile Pajaro Valley. This year’s fall fundraising dinner, A to Zucchini, benefits the Live Earth Farm Discovery Program, a farm education program that benefited 1,500 local youngsters last year alone. This year’s dinner takes place from 4 to 8 p.m. Sept. 26. The evening includes a multicourse family-style farm dinner in the fields, prepared by local chef Andrea Mollenaur, with regional wine pairings and live and silent auction.

Downtown Santa Cruz is a fine destination for an evening stroll, but the evening paseo becomes an art form on the first Friday of every month. The Museum of Art and History (705 Front St.) is the center of Santa Cruz’s First Friday art tours, but the city is dotted with dozens of free art openings, music events, street dancing and all manner of inspiration. Hours are roughly 5 to 9 p.m., depending on the venue, and the events are generally family-friendly.

Free Friday night concerts hosted by the Beach Boardwalk are a Santa Cruz summer tradition stretching back more than a century. Music lovers line up hours in advance for a prime spot in front of the bandstand, but there’s plenty of room to spread out on the beach, and excellent views from the boardwalk promenade. The summer series features oldies rock and soul bands, as well as guest turns by local heroes such as Smash Mouth. The 2015 concert season continues through Sept. 4 with performances by Everclear, Blue Öyster Cult, Smash Mouth and Papa Doo Run Run, with shows at 6:30 and 9:30 p.m.